News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1887-01-06
DEFECTIVE ELDER.
One Leaf from the Busy Life of the Late
New York Detective.
TFrom the Brooklyn Citizen. ]


Detective Elders fame rests largely
upon his capture of the man who mulCted
the old City Bank, in the lower end of
Wall street, out of $75, 900 by means of
draft purporting to be signed by Van
derbilt, which he effected after a long
and intricate search. His greatest
achievement was however, accomplished
n connection with Jourdan. The bank
at Concord, Mass, town eighteen miles
from Boston, had been robbed of over
$500, 900, much the largest portion of
which was in coupon government bonds.
The Boston detectives were called in but
they soon confessed themselves utterly
at fault as to the perpe rators. On the
recommendation of Chief Kantz the
bank president came over to New York
to lay the case befosSS. .fhe detectives
here. He was recor1fae .4ded IN turn to
''see Jourdan." The circumstances of
the robbery were detailed to him. 1t
had been done in open daylight while
the cashier had stepped out for his Gus
tomary lunch. The cashier had gone for
his lunch in the same way for years,
closing the bank vault and locking the
street door. On his return on this occa.
sion the vault was open and the bonds
and money gone. 1t was quiet town.
No suspicious person had been seen loi
tering about The Only thing noticed
had been the departure of q strange
buggy which left town just before the
cashier returned from lunch.
This was all that Jourdan had to go
upon, yet he decided instantly that the
robbery was the work of q professional
bank robber known as "English Harry"
and, may add, so it proved after long
sequel of detective effort, the details of
which would drive Gaboreau mad with
delight. Jourdan saw at once how diff
cult would be the capture of ''Englsh
Harry" who was a cold -blooded thief
without vices of the kind which usually
betray such people into the hands OF the
wouldn't trust them. The only hing to
do was to watch for the marketing of
the stolen bonds, the numbers of which
had been caveated. All trace of ENG
lish Harry was lost meantime. At
length one of the stolen bonds was de-
tected at a city bank, despite the fact
that the number had been altered by in
geniously printing figures before it in
the same type and ink. With this clue,
Elder and Jourdan eventually traced the
booty to a farm on the banks of the
Delaware, near Trenton. The farm
house was searched from top to bottom.
Even the flooring and brickw rk were
taken up or apart. The hunt was ex-
tended to the outhouses until, beneath
the muck heaps at the pigsty, the divin
ing-rods of the detectives struck some
thing. The something" proved to be
large glass jars, such as candy is kept in,
stuffed full of government bonds and
Theoretically sealed. The farmer" was
wealthy former 'crook," named
Adams, to whom English Harry" had
sold the bonds for from thirty to forty
per cent. of their market value and then
gone to Europe. Hence his complete
disappearance. Adams speculation con-
templated the blowing over of the ex-
citement and the alteration of the bond
numbers. He intendGs TO wait for years,
If advisable. But temporary need Tor
funds impelled him ts negotiate one of
the bonds, which he %iid through pro-
fessional passer of counterfeit money.